US940665A - Method of treating iron or steel. - Google Patents

Description

weight of the'product. A comp I Myfi be added to a given weig t of iron or steel 7 UNITED PATENT orrrcn.

FREDERICK M. BECKET, E

NIAGARA EALLs, NEW Yonx, ASSIGNOR-KTO ELECTED METALLURGICAL COMPANY, or NEW YoEmnv Y A CORPORATION or WEST vm- GINIA; i- .METHOD OF TREATING IRON OR STEEL.

i 940,665. specification'of Letters Yatent,

No Drawing.

' PatentedNov. 23, 1909. v

Application filed November 7,1908.- Serial No. 461,509.

'T 0 all whom it may concern: v Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. BECKET, a Sl1b]6Ct Of the King of Great Britain, re-

siding at Nia ara Falls, in the county of 5 Niagara and .10 or steel. to remove therefrom gaseous and other 1mpurities effect upon the which exert a deleterious propertles of the metal by incorporatin therewith the elements titanium, silicon an carbon.

According tothe invention there is incorporated with the molten metal, usually at the time of casting, an alloy or mixture containing titanium, silicon and carbon, pref- IQO erably in proportions substantially as here- This alloypossesses defiinafter described. nlte advantages for such useas compared with metallic titanium, ferro-titaniu'm, or

titanium carbid, in which forms the metal titanium has heretofore been available for use in the treatment of iron or steel.

When titanium ores or ores of titaniumand iron are reduced bycarbon in an electric I f, furnace, sufiicient carbon being'employed to insure fair commerclal efficiency of the. op-

eration, there is formed a product containing a large proportion of carbon-,such pro portion amounting in the case. of titanium carbid to approximately twenty per cent; by ound of this character is extremely hard, dlflicultly fusible, and dissolves but slowl in molten metal.

" It is moreover objectionab e'by reason of its ihigh carbon content, inasmuch as the quan- 'of the titanium com ound which may is necessarily limited by the carbon content permisslble in the resulting metal. I have discovered that by associatmg siliconjin substantial proportions with the titani1'1m,and by effecting proper conditions,'the'proportion of carbon product acthe reduction under may be greatly reduced and the quires new and valuable characteristics.

' The i 1 silicon in this case acts to some extent as a I carbon-excluding agent.

It 1s essentialthat the titanium should be I present in the alloy in proportion to render 1t of value for technical purposes, say in. 5 excess offive' per cent, and the percentage of .result is not fixed and invariable,

metal, and to modify the silicon shouldbe sufiicientto exerta marked effect upon the carbon content, that is to say carbon content to ten per cent.

to reduce the or less. It should be understood that the percentage of silicon required to effect this but bears a: general proportion to the percentage of titanium present, for the reason that a given percentage of silicon exerts less effect in reducing the carbon content of an alloy high relatively low in titanium.

An example of the com osition of an alloy made in accordance wlth the present process is given in the following analysis Titanium 33.70 Iron 43. 69 Silicon 14. 23

' Carbon 8. 32 Aluminum .08 Calcium Trace 1 In case of alloys lower ill titanium the percentage of silicon above noted would yield a product of lower carbon contehtgand in case of alloys still richer-in titanium'it will-be necessary to increase very considerabl the percentage of silicon-in order to maintain the carbon content of the alloy within desirable limits. In casestill lower carbon contents are desired, these can be secured by suitably increasing the proportion of silicon in the alloy. grade rutile, products may withmy process present as compared with ferro-titanium melting point and a capacity for entering more freely into solution in molten iron or steel, furthermore, "by reason of their comparatively low carbon content they may be added, if desired, in relatively large pro-j portions without unduly increasing the proportion of carbon in the resulting metal.

the advantages of a lower Y i in titanium than isthe case with an alloy 1 By using a highbe obtained containing less iron than'is indicated by the 9 above analysis. 1

Titanium alloys produced in accordance Their appearance varies' somewhat in accordance'with the mode of their production, rate of cooling, etc.; in general they .hav'e-a metallic luster and a moreor less distinct crystalline fracture; they are very fusible as compared with titaniumcca rbid or metalllc titanium, and much softer than these prod- They are comparatively brittle and 'state.. of subnets. are readily crushed .to such lot division as is desirable for insuring their complete solution in molten iron or steel. The process may be carried out under varying conditions, the essential feature being the reduction in an electric furnace of an ore containing titanium, in presence of carbon and of sufficient silicon to exclude from the product carbon in excess of ten per cent. The following methods are satisfactory: (1)

by reducing by carbon in an electric furnace a charge containing oxide of titanium and silicon; (2), by reducing oxid of titanium by carbon in an electric furnace, ferrosilicon or silicon being incorporated with the charge or added to the bath. The carbon is usually employed in substantially the in a suitable state of subdivision is added to or incorporated with the molten metal, preferably at the time of casting. 1 The proportion of alloy added depends upon the gracle'or character of the molten metal as well as upon the nature of the product decertainty the complete function of each in-. gredient of the above described alloy. 11;-

maybe assumed however that the titanium acts chiefly upon the occluded nitrogen, and

the silicon upon the hydrogen and dissolved oxids. The result of the addition of the combined elements is to greatly improve the character of theiron or steel by reason of the elimination of a substantial proportion of its impurities and the presence in the finished metal of the excess of titanium, silicon and carbon employed; and to produce a homogeneous and uniform product.

I claim:

Themethod of treating iron and steel, which consists in incorporating with the molten metal an alloy containing more than five per cent. each of titanium and silicon and less than ten per cent. of carbon, said Y alloy being relatively fusibleas compared with metallic titanium and titanium cal-bid. In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

- FREDK. M. BECKET. 'Witnesses:

' J. N. DEINHARDT,

D. BURGESS.